Human hair becomes soiled due to its contact with the surrounding environment and from sebum secreted by the scalp. The soiling of the hair causes it to have a dirty or greasy feel, and an unattractive appearance. The soiling of the hair necessitates shampooing with regularity.
Shampooing cleans the hair by removing excess soil and sebum. However, shampooing can leave hair in a wet, tangled, and generally unmanageable state. After shampooing, hair is often left in a dry, rough, lusterless, or frizzy condition due to removal of the hair's natural oils and other natural conditioning and moisturizing components. The hair can further be left with increased levels of static upon drying which can interfere with combing and result in a condition commonly referred to as “flyaway hair.” Certain consumers consider such flyaway hair and the corresponding increase in total hair volume undesirable. Thus, it is desirable to provide smooth, soft, silky-feeling, and healthy-looking hair, while decreasing flyaway hair volume and total hair volume. In addition, it is typically desirable to increase the biodegradability of a hair care composition.
A variety of approaches have been developed to address these issues. Such approaches typically seek to increase smoothness, softness, and luster by including hair conditioning compounds, typically cationic compounds, such as cationic surfactants, into a hair care composition. Such hair conditioning compounds may also reduce static. In theory, these cationic compounds, including quaternary ammonium compounds, seek to neutralize the static charge on the hair, and thus reduce flyaway hair volume to a certain degree. However, these hair conditioning compounds do not sufficiently reduce total hair volume, and may be harsh on the hair, skin, or scalp.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a hair care composition which effectively deposits onto hair to noticeably reduce total hair volume by reducing both bulk hair volume and flyaway hair volume. There also exists a need for a hair care composition which provides improved mildness to the hair, skin and scalp, and has improved biodegradability.